This past week for February break, I took 3 kids to Great Wolf Lodge for three days.
As someone who’s easily overwhelmed by chaos and doesn’t like to drink in the daytime—which seems to be the MO for parents Great Wolf—a vacation like this was way out of my comfort zone. I was scared. But I decided to suck it up because something told me that this trip would result in some serious joy. And it did.
A downside of our visit was how long it took to get a table for dinner, and once we did, how painfully slow the service was. So at 9:00pm when the waiter told us it would be another 20-30 minutes for lava cakes, I said no thanks, and promised the kids I’d make them myself when we got home.
A promise is a promise. Here come the lava cakes. Feel the joy.
• Chocolate Lava Cakes •
from Food & Wine
makes 4
30 min start to finish
Ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips)
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Preheat the oven to 450°. Butter and lightly flour four 6-ounce ramekins. Tap out the excess flour. Set the ramekins on a baking sheet.
In a double boiler, over simmering water, melt the butter with the chocolate. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat the eggs with the egg yolks, sugar and salt at high speed until thickened and pale.
Whisk the chocolate until smooth. Sift flour over the egg mixture, quickly add chocolate and fold in. Spoon the batter into the prepared ramekins and bake for 12 minutes, or until the sides of the cakes are firm but the centers are soft. Let the cakes cool in the ramekins for 1 minute, then cover each with an inverted dessert plate. Carefully turn each one over, let stand for 10 seconds and then unmold. Serve immediately with homemade whipped cream
The batter can be refrigerated for several hours; bring to room temperature before baking. I made the batter before dinner and left it out, so it would be quick to pop these into the oven to enjoy right after dinner.
